BJP against quota moves on religious lines : Amit Shah

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday announced it would fight tooth and nail the politics of discrimination on the grounds of religion that it alleged had been unleashed by the Samajwadi Party (SP) government in Uttar Pradesh.

Interacting with party workers, office-bearers and supporters at Bijnor, 454 km from the state capital Lucknow, BJP general secretary in-charge of the state, Amit Shah said being a responsible nationalist party, it cannot be a mute spectator to the misdeeds of a state government bent on dividing the society on communal, religious and casteist lines.

He instructed the state unit of the party to hold intellectual conventions across Uttar Pradesh between February 15 and March 15 and inform the people of the divisive designs of the opponents and exhort them to connect with the "Vote for India" and "My Idea of India" campaigns of Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

Coining a slogan - "Booth jeeta, chunav jeeta (if you conquer the booths, you win the elections), Shah said involvement of cadres in expansion of the voter base of the party was crucial and hence they should be involved in the political process. He also asked party workers to work 24x7 to ensure the state sends maximum Lok Sabha members.

UP has 80 Lok Sabha seats of which BJP holds 10. In 1998, the saffron party sent a maximum of 57 Lok Sabha members from the state and it now hopes to see a good comeback by pitching in for Modi as PM.